Election Commission wipes out 20-year EPIC number glitch, says voting integrity never at risk

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMay 13, 2025

The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Tuesday that it has resolved a nearly two-decade-old issue involving duplicate Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers — a technical glitch that had persisted in the system since 2005.

The problem stemmed from the decentralized use of alphanumeric series by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in different assembly constituencies. After the delimitation of constituencies in 2008, some areas continued to use outdated series or committed typographic errors, which led to different voters in separate constituencies ending up with similar EPIC numbers.

To address the problem, the ECI undertook a comprehensive review of its vast database — scanning over 99 crore electors across 36 states and union territories, covering 4,123 assembly constituencies and 10.5 lakh polling stations. The audit found that similar EPIC numbers occurred rarely, averaging only one match per four polling stations.

Field-level verification confirmed that all individuals involved were genuine voters, each registered in distinct constituencies and polling stations. New EPIC cards with unique numbers have since been issued to all affected electors.

Importantly, the ECI stressed that similar EPIC numbers never compromised the electoral process. “No person could vote outside their designated polling station, as each voter’s name appears only in the electoral roll of their respective station,” the commission clarified.

The ECI called the resolution of this issue a major step toward modernizing and sanitizing India’s voter rolls, reinforcing public trust in the transparency and integrity of the election system.